Halfeti

From Zeugma we bumped north through pistachio orchards to a little village on the Euphrates. At this point I was reminded of the Columbia River gorge. The cliffs rose quite steeply on both sides of the river. The little village hung on the slope above the river. We learned later that part of it had been submerged by the water backing up behind the dam. It is obviously a local tourist attraction. Tied up on the shore are a half dozen covered barges that serve as restaurants. There are also a number of little putt putts that give short tours up the river. The Turkish teachers who were with us went to all the restaurants bargaining for the cheapest group rate. We ended up at the first place because they were willing to throw in the boat ride.

While our fish kebabs were being prepared, be chugged up river. We way the remains of a Roman fort atop one of the cliffs. We then went into a little inlet. I saw a minaret sticking up out of the water right on the shore. I innocently asked where the mosque was – not having understood the explanation (in Turkish) by the driver that the village had been submerged. He took us close to the shore and we could see the roof of the mosque about a foot under water. Think Yangzee River. The Turkish government paid the residents to relocate to a new village built on higher ground. There were a couple of groups picnicking on verandas, but they’d had to get there by boat – or so we were told.

We chugged back to our barge where we were served truly delicious fish. It had been prepared with some sort of spicy rub and grilled. Yummy and a nice change from the usual meat kebabs. I was quite impressed that the barge was lit with compact florescent light bulbs. In fact, they even had them in red, blue, yellow, and green. I don’t think I’ve seen those in The States.

I did take my binoculars along in hopes of seeing some sort of bird life. I may have seen an egret on one shore of the river. However, it was far away, and I was also able to identify plastic shopping bags posing as birds (joke – there was a lot of junk around) so I’m not sure I was actually seeing a living creature. I also saw one gull and one black “duck” – looked a bit like a scooter. That was about it.